In a Day Past, Would This have been Bigger News?

   In a day past, had a group of doctors called for more use of hydroxychloriquine, would their call have made more news?
   I mean, let's say there were studies coming back, doubting the benefit of the drug, but then this group -- and we shall call them the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons -- came out and said, "HCQ is both very safe and highly effective in treating COVID-19, reducing mortality by 50 percent."
   Because, yes, there is a group called the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, and that is what they are saying. And, in another message from the AAPS, they say there is a "war to suppress available, affordable, safe preventatives and treatments for COVID-19 as patients continue to die and economic carnage continues."
   This is one of the notable medical organizations in America making that statement. I consider whether or not newspapers across the country should have plastered it across their front pages. "Medical Group Says Use of HCQ Suppressed While Dying Continues," the headline could have read.
   As I wonder at our press, and why such news did not make bigger news, I consider that AAPS has from its start been very political. It came into existence in the '40s to oppose universal health care. It has sued Hillary Clinton. It is an organ for right-wing beliefs.
   Still, it is a group of bonafide doctors. That its statements are political does not reduce their credentials as doctors and surgeons. COVID-19 has become very political, so it is natural that they should become involved. By the nature of their being conservative, they are going to rally to support causes President Trump is associated with.
    For the very fact that they are credentialed as doctors and surgeons, however, it means their opinions should be respected as news. Carry in the story a count on how many of them there are, and compare that to how many doctors and surgeons there are, altogether. If they are one in twenty, report it.
   But, carry the story.

(Note: Blog altered and changed 7-30-20. As a result of what I learned about AAPS, I downsized how serious of a wrong I think it is that they did not make more news.)